if
Conservative * i
today above ; for the hill in which Ser
geant Floyd was interred by his beloved
captains was not the eternal resting-
place that that they had designed it to
be. It was attacked by the river , and
the high water of the spring of 1857 de
molished it in huge sections. Even the
grave itself , high above , was reached at
length , and one end of it destroyed ; it
was believed , and the Sioux Oity papers
of today so stated , that the soldier's
skull became detached and fell into the
river , though this was a mistake , as will
be explained below. The settlers , how
ever , came tothe rescue at this point ,
showing thereby what kind of men they
were who founded our river towns.
They opened the grave , removed the
bones to a safe place , and on May 28th
of that year formally reinterred them ,
with appropriate ceremonies , some 200
yards father back from the edge of the
bluff.
Busy years followed , with the war
first and then the development of the
new city ; the young men became old
men , and then the long , deferred project
for suitably marking the historic grave
was brought forth again. It grew as it
was handled ; the late Dr. Elliott Ooues ,
that human steam-engine of research ,
the historiographer of the Lewis and
Clark expedition , put his mighty shoul
der to the wheel ; it was taken up vigor
ously by various competent men ; $5,000
was obtained from the national govern
ment , aiu. an equal amount from the
state of Iowa ; private subscriptions
were freely made ; the railroads did
what lay in their power ; and the shaft
that has this morning been dedicated ,
rose over the spot where , on Memorial
day of 1895 , the bones of the KentuoMan
had been deposited for the third time in
the soil of the western wilderness which
he had hoped to help explore. The cost
of the structure was stated by. Colonel
Ohittenden to have been close to $20-
000.
000.This
This being wholly Floyd's day in
Sioux City , the good people began again
after their dinners , and returned to the
pleasant tadk once more in the evening
In the afternoon they filled their largest
theatre , the Grand , to overflowing , to
witness the simple and touching , but
little-known , ceremonies of the Grand
Army of the Republic , and hear an ad
dress by Hon. John A. Kasson ; who sat
and watched with interest the Memoria
Day exercises , in company with other
men and women who had had a hand in
the making of the day. Prominen
among these was Mrs. Coues , whose
honored husband's name , by an over
sight which many noticed with regret
was not mentioned in either the morn
ing or afternoon exercises ; though
handsome tribute was paid to his mem
ory and services in the evening. Mr
Kassou , when he arose to speak , deliv
ered an address which it is a pleasure to
recall. It was the work of au artist and
a scholar , and agentleman's talk withal ,
bright with the fire of that patriotism
of the intellect which is able to dispense
with rant. THE CONSERVATIVE will , by
Mr. Kasson's permission , present some
portions of it to our readers at an early
day , for it amounts to a document which
could be widely read to good advantage.
The evening gathering was perhaps
; he most interesting of all , for it was
the least formal ; this was an old men's
day , and those were beautiful and won
derful old men who told , mainly in an
impromptu manner , various things from
their own knowledge concerning Ser
geant Floyd and the antiquities of the
region. First arose Dr. James Davie
Butler , of Madison , Wisconsin , the dis
coverer of Floyd's manuscript journal ;
with bowed frame , snow-white hair and
shrunken hands , but speaking in a re
sonant and unwearied voice , and still
making good jokes , jokes of the cumu
lative kind , which pleased the audience
more the longer they thought them
over. He told the story of the journal ,
considerable sections of which have
been presented in THE CONSERVATIVE ;
he even presented the priceless old docu
ment itself , so strangely found after the
lapse of ninety years , and a privileged
few were allowed to examine and handle
it. It is a small book , of a conveuienl
size to carry in one's co'at-pocket ; the
ink is rusted , but the writing is perfectly
legible. At the stage of the journey
where they passed the future site oJ
Nebraska Oity , where he saw "High
Olif tes on the South Side Which hase the
Apperence of Iron Ore , " he at firs !
wrote simply "ore , " but then smeared it
out with his finger or sleeve and put in
fuller particulars.
Among all the events of the" day
there was notliing more pleasing than a
brief reminiscent speech made by an
early settler who had made a long jour
ney , despite advanced age and feeble
ness , to take part in the occasion Judge
Levering , of Los Angeles. He was one
of those who , in 1857 , rescued the
menaced grave from entire destruction
he was even the one who was made cus
todian of the bones themselves. He re
called , in picturesque language , the coo
reception those venerable relics met a
the hands of his wife when he brougli
them home , enclosed in a bag. "She
didn't like the feeliu's of 'em , " he said
smiling ; "she didn't exactly take as
much pleasure in the rattliu' of the dry
bones as she would in the tones of
church organ. " So he bestowed them
elsewhere he told the Sioux Oityau
whose office he left them in , and jus
where it used to stand until arrange
ments were made for the ceremonial
burial.
He accounted minutely for the state
of the explorer's remains , and one woulc
suppose that this old gentleman's ac
count of this matter would be all tha
can ever be known in regard to it. I
s , therefore , perhaps worth preserving
n detail.
He said that when they opened the
grave , during the spring rise of 1857 ,
hey found both lower arms missing and
a portion of the left log. The principal
members of the skeleton , However , were
; here entire. He accounted for the de
ficiencies , as well as for the story of the
skull having gone into the river , as fol-
ows : He recalled the captains' state
ment of their finding the grave open on
their return , which has always been un
derstood as meaning that it had been
dug into by wild animals probably
wolves. The body , he said , would have
jeen buried with the arms crossed over
; he breast ; and in that position the
arms would have been the first thing
the beasts would come to ; and he made
no doubt but that they had , in fact.been
arried off in this manner. The miss
ing foot he thought undoubtedly fell
down the bluff when the face of the hill
was so far washed away that it pro
truded ; and the reason why it was
thought that the skull had gone was
that the post or cross was at that end of
the grave and went in first , and those
who observed this naturally supposed
that it had' marked the head of the
grave. He reminded us , however , that
this post or cross had been replaced at
least once , quoting Nicollet's statement
to that effect ; and showed how easily a
stranger , finding the rude monument
wholly displaced and lying upon the
ground , could have set it up again inad
vertently at the wrong end of the
mound.
More than once , in the course of the
day , was mention made of Sergeant
Floyd's * last recorded saying ; how he
spoke to Captain Clark and said , "I am
going away ; I want you to write me a
letter. " The interpretation always put
upon these simple words was that the
young man had wished to send a fare
well to his father or some friend back
in Kentucky : but it would have been
easier for him to say so in other words ,
if that had been his meaning. Is it not
more natural to believe that , feeling the
approach of death , and wandering per
haps a little in his mind , this brave lad
had desired to have a letter of recom
mendation from his commanding officer
to take with him on the long journey
that lay before him ?
A. T. RICHARDSON.
RENDING THE HEARTS OF THE
MOURNERS.
J. Sterling Morton continues to flay
the 1(5 ( to 1 theory each week in THE
CONSERVATIVE. This is all wrong. If
we cannot say good things about the
dead it is more charitable to remain
silent. Why rend the hearts of the
mourners by continuing to show up
the faults and fallacies of the deceased ?
' Central City Nonpariel. f
